The Order of the Arrow's vision is to "be why Scouts stay in Scouting," making it essential for all OA members to support key intiatives that help retain Scouts. One of the most important of these is Scouting's outdoor activities, especially camping.

From unit campouts to council summer camps and the National Jamboree, camping is a core part of Scouting. The OA supports all camping activities, with each lodge contributing to the council's camping program—whether through promoting summer camps, helping plan campouts, or providing service at council camps. This support pack aims to:

1. Provide resources to help lodges promote camping to units.
2. Encourage lodges to promote camp staff opportunities for their council’s summer camp programs.
3. Strengthen relationships between lodges and councils through mutual support of the council’s camping program.

The recommendations in this support pack are meant to help lodges achieve those goals, but feel free to build on or innovate on anything that is shared here, so long as all actions taken are following the Handbook for Officers and Advisers.

Collaborating With Your Council

As the lodge develops a plan for promoting camping activities in the council, it is important to acknowledge that the Order of the Arrow’s role in camp promotions is support-focused. There are many important stakeholders concerned with camp promotions in the typical Scouting council, including but not limited to those mentioned below.

The OA's role is not to assume total responsibility for camping promotion but rather to give full support to the entire council’s camping program, which includes monthly unit camping as well as resident camp. 

All of this is to say that before lodge leaders implement any ideas or plans, lodges should consult with the relevant stakeholders at the council or district level. The lodge adviser, and particularly the lodge staff adviser, is best equipped to determine who those stakeholders are.

Supporting Unit Camping

Arrowmen should be the leading advocates for camping in their unit, setting an example by being the first to sign up for camp and actively planning year-round camping events. They encourage fellow Scouts to enjoy the outdoors through personal conversations and help unit members understand the benefits of camping. Arrowmen assist unit leaders with planning and organizing camping and high-adventure activities. 

The best way to support unit camping is to set a strong culture of this type of behavior in the lodge, through presentations, conversations, and supporting all of the aspects of the council’s camping program.

Supporting Summer Camp

While lodges should promote and support all camping activities, councils tend to put a focus on their summer camp program(s). There are many ways that lodges can help with the promotion and support of summer camp programs.

Promoting Summer Camp

Lodges tend to promote summer camp in the following ways:

• Unit presentations. During unit elections or visitations, many lodges also take the opportunity to promote and advertise the upcoming summer camp programs to units that have not decided upon a summer camp yet. Ensure that unit leaders are comfortable with and approve of a promotion like this. This promotion can be as small as reminding the unit of the opportunities and handing out flyers or trifolds, or as significant as presenting the council’s camp promotions video.
• Word of mouth. At lodge events, lodge leaders often host presentations and training to show Arrowmen the importance of promoting camping in their units. These presentations aim to remind Arrowmen to set an example by leading the planning, registering early, and telling their friends about how great summer camp is.
• Promoting staffing opportunities. As an eligibility requirement, Arrowmen must achieve a rank that gives them proficiency in Scouting and camping skills. This makes many OA members ideal candidates to serve as a council camp staff member. Promoting staffing benefits everyone: working at camp is a great opportunity to form lifelong friendships, and more staff members increase the quality of the camp program for units and the council.
• Social media. Many lodges utilize their social media by sharing posts from the council and the council camps. Some lodges also create their posts in conjunction with the council camping committee to post and promote camping opportunities to their membership.

Assisting At Camp

On top of promoting camping opportunities, lodges take the opportunity to support the camp program through direct involvement. This can take many forms:

• Planning or participating in service days. Lodges can and should consider either planning or participating in council-supported service days to help make necessary repairs and modifications to the camp before the camp season. This is a great way not only to help make camp a better place but also for the lodge to publicly show its support for the camp program.
• Running summer camp programming. This can take many forms. Some lodges hold an ice cream social during an evening of camp. Some lodges offer a service hour for the entire camp to participate in. Other lodges even run a specific OA program during a week of camp.
• Supplying volunteer help during camp. Many camps benefit from OA volunteers during check-in or during busy times of the camp week. This helps camp leadership direct staffing to other places where it can deliver a better program for the units and Scouts in camp.

In all of the above cases, ensure that you consult with the relevant camp/council leadership before taking action!

Camp Promotions Resources

Camp Promotions Best Practices
A handful of additional best practices for camp promotions and support.

Camp Promotions Elevator Pitch
A short script for a speech to promote the council’s summer camp program(s) to a unit.

Camping Committee Sample Letter
A sample letter that lodge leaders could send to their council’s camping committee to start the conversation about camp promotions.

Camp Staff Recruitment Best Practices
A handful of additional best practices for recruiting camp staff applicants.

Camp Staff Elevator Pitch
A short script for a speech to promote camp staff opportunities.

Camp Staff Recruitment Phone Call Script
A phone call script that a lodge leader can use to invite lodge members to apply for camp staff.

Camp Staff Slideshow Template
A slideshow template a lodge leader can use to promote camp staff at lodge events.